World time clock



Dec. 20, 1966 P. V. D. REDMOND WORLD TIME CLOCK Filed Aug. 18, 1965 United States Patent 3,292,361 WORLD TIME CLGCK Peater Van Dillard Redmond, 1631 Sherman Place, Des Plaines, Ill. 60016 Filed Aug. 18, 1965, s81. No. 480,552 3 Claims. (CI. 58-44) This invention relates to a clock, and more specifically to a clock capable of giving the viewer the current time of any geographical location in the world.

Clocks in popular use today are generally capable of giving the viewer thereof the current time in only one His computations require both that he know clock capable of accurately giving the current time in all geographical areas of the world. Specifically, persons in transit between time zones and persons who have occasion to contact other persons in different time zones by means of telephone or the like are particularly interested in not making an error of computation which might be costly in time, and perhaps, in money.

Although clocks of this general nature are well known,

these clocks are usually either difiicult to read, confusing in their reading, or quite costly in their construction.

Furthermore, the known clocks of this type move in such a way as to make it inconvenient for a person to keep track of the local time in a specific area of the world, and he is forced to move the clock or himself in order to do this.

It is a general object of this invention to provide a new and improved world clock.

It is an object and an advantage of this invention to provide a world clock which permits the viewer to keep track of the local time in a given area of the world without moving the clock or himself.

It is an advantage and a feature of this invention to provide a world clock wherein all of the legend contained therein is enclosed to prevent accidental or deliberate marring thereof.

It is an even further advantage and feature of this invention to provide a world clock including a world globe which may be simply inverted, with simple accompanying drivingmechanism changes, to more adequately expose the Southern hemisphere portions of the globe when the viewer is particularly interested in the local time of areas in that hemisphere.

Other objects, advantages and features will become readily apparent upon a reading of the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a world clock incorporating the principles of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional View of the world clock as shown in FIG. 1.

Although the following disclosure offered for public dissemination is detailed to ensure adequacy and aid understanding, this is not intended to prejudice that purpose of a patent which is to cover each new inventive concept therein no matter how others may later disguise it by variations in form of additions or further improvements. The claims at the end hereof are intended as the chief aid toward this purpose; as it is these that meet the requirement of pointing out the parts, improvements, or combinations in which the inventive concepts are found.

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Referring now to the drawings in more detail, the

world clock is shown at 10 and includes generally a lower supporting base 11, a fixed upright supporting shaft 12, a fixed world map in the form of a globe 13, a transparent hollow sphere 15, and a suitable drive mechanism as at 16. p The lower supporting base 11 is a downwardly opening hollow enclosure which may be formed of a suitable material, such as sheet metal, and is herein shown in generally tapered octagonal form having eight lower inclined sides 17, eight upper inclined sides 18, and an upper generally horizontal side 20. Although, it will be understood that the upper side 20 could be inclined from the horizontal at any desirable angle such as that associated with the earths tilt from its plane of movement around the sun. Extending across the inner middle portions of the base 11 is a horizontal supporting shelf or bracket 21 which both reinforces the base and provides a shelf for the mounting of drive means 16, to be described in more detail later. One of the lower inclined sides 17 has an opening therein permitting access to the inside of the base. This opening normally is covered by a door 22 which is hinged as at 23 to permit the opening thereof. Upper horizontal wall 20 includes a centrally located hole 25 therethrough, and a laterally spaced slot 26. It will be understood that the lower edges 27 of the lower inclined sides 17 lay in a flat plane to permit the world globe to rest on a flat surface.

Rigidly mounted to base 11 and extending upwardly from hole 25 is the upright supporting shaft 12 having a downwardly facing shoulder 28, which abuts upper horizontal side 20, and a reduced diameter threaded portion 30 extending through hole 25 for securing the supporting shaft to the base as by nut 31. Encircling shaft 12 immediately above upper horizontal wall 20 is a combination separator and thrust bushing 32. Rotatably resting on thrust bushing 32 are the inner and lower portions of a bevel gear 33. This bevel gear has a central bore therethrough and rigidly attached as by means 35 to lower portions of the light conducting hollow sphere 15.

Snuggly mounted on shaft 12 above bevel gear 33 is a world globe 13 which includes an accurate map of the world on its outer surface. Shaft 12 impales the glove along a diameter thereof which intersects the upper and lower poitions of the globe at the North and South Pole of the map respectively. Globe 13 may be of any desirable construction, but it preferably hollow in the interest of minimizing its Weight. The globe is restrained from moving vertically by means of upper and lower washers 36 and accompanying upper and lower cotter pins 37 which extend through small holes in the shaft 12. As mentioned before the globe 13 is restrained from rotating about shaft 12 by virtue of the relatively snug fit between their mating surfaces as at 38.

Light conducting hollow sphere 15, preferably made of a transparent material such as plastic, is rotatably mounted on shaft 12 concentric with the world globe 13. The sphere 15 consists of a pair of substantially identical hemispherical shaped shells 40 and 41 having mating edges 42 and 43 respectively lying in the same horizontal plane to facilitate their assembly into a sphere. This sphere has an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the world globe to permit relatively free rotation of the outer sphere. The sphere 15 has a hole 45 at its lower end which is of a diameter slightly larger than shaft 12 to permit relative rotation therebetween, and has a somewhat larger hole 46 at its upper end in which is mounted a knob 47 having a downwardly opening bore 48 for rotatably receiving the upper end portion 50 of shaft 12. It will be understood that rotary movement of bevel gear 33 will cause rotation of sphere 15 around and relative to fixed globe 13. It can also be seen that a manual lifting of the knob 47 permits a limited amount of vertical translation of the sphere 15 relative to the shaft, this distance being limited by the distance between lower cotter pin 37 and the lower inner surface of the square 15.

Sphere 15 has scribed thereon, and preferably on its inner surface, a plurality of twenty-four lines 51, each of which follows the path of a great circle passing through both holes 45 and 46 and each of which is spaced equally from similar adjacent lines so as to divide the sphere into 24 equal segments or time Zones representing 15 degrees or one hour each. Lines 51 are preferably scribed on the inside of the sphere to prevent being rubbed off or obscured and thereby ensure some degree of permanency. Encircling the outer sphere at portions concentric with the equator on the inner globe, and to pleasingly cover the mating edges 42 and 43 of the mating shells, is a strip 52 having a series of twenty-four equally spaced numbers 23 spaced thereon consecutively increasing to represent the hour of the day. These numbers may, of course, range in value from one to twenty-four, or alternatively, increase from 1:00 am. to 12:00 am. and from 1:00 pm. to 12:00 pm. strip 52 is preferably opaque, but could be transparent. It contacts both of the shells 40 and 41, and holds them together in their assembled spherical configuration by any suitable means such as a mastic or positive gripping fingers formed in the backing of strip 52. The outer sphere and time Zones carried thereon rotate from east to west at the rate of one revolution per day by means of the driving mechanism 16, to be described next.

Mounted on supporting shelf 21 inside the base 11 is an electric clock motor 55 having a pair of power supplying leads 56 for attachment to a source of electrical energy. Motor 55 also could be'spring operated. Motor 55 includes an output shaft 57 extending entirely through the motor and having upper and lower portions 58 and 60 respectively. Lower portions 60 extend through a hole therefor in supporting shelf 21. Removably secured to shaft portion 58 as by setscrew 61 is a bevel gear 62 having one-half the number of teeth as bevel gear 33. Mounted on one side of clock motor 55 is an upwardly extending bracket 63 which rotatably carries at its upper end the shaft portions 65 of an idler bevel gear 66. Idler bevel gear 66 transmits the motion derived from bevel gear 62 to bevel gear 33 which rotates the outer sphere 15. Inasmuch as there are readily available a number of clock motors having an output shaft which rotates at the rate of one revolution per 12 hours, the gear reduction of two to one between bevel gear 62 and 33 causes outer sphere 15 to rotate at the rate of one revolution per 24 hours. Thus, it can be seen that the time zones defined by the lines 51 will move around the inner world globe with the same relative movement that world time zones move around the earth.

Provisions have been made for setting the time on the world clock to correspond with the actual time in any and all locations of the world, and herein this is accomplished by lifting upwardly on knob 47 which raises outer globe 15 and disengages bevel gear 33 from idler bevel gear 66. Knob 47 is then rotated until the current proper time, as indicated by the proper number 53, is correctly oriented relative to the location on the world globe having that current time. Outer sphere 15 is then lowered to reengage bevel gears 33 and 66, and this necessarily sets the correct current time for all geographical locations of the world.

In the event that the observer is interested in observing the current time for various areas in the Southern hemisphere, means are provided for conveniently making this hemisphere more accessible to the sight of the user. In making this change, an individual need only detach and remove clock motor 55 from supporting shelf 21, detach and resecure bracket 63 to clock motor 55 in an inverted position, detach bevel gear 62 from shaft portions 53 and mount it on shaft portions 57, invert the clock motor, and resecure it to the supporting shelf 21 so as to re-engage bevel gears 33 and 66. The foregoing change in the drive mechanism will have the effect of reversing the absolute rotation of the outer sphere 15 which is necessary if the globe is to be inverted. By removing strip 52, upper shell 40 can be removed, washer and upper cotter pin 36 and 37 can be removed, the inner globe can then be inverted, and the world clock can then be re-assembled to give a more readily accessible view of the Southern hemisphere.

It will be noted that by having the outer sphere and its time Zones rotate about the inner globe, an observer can set the world clock on a surface in such a position as to always have facing him that portion of world in which he is interested. Since the time zones move, and not the earth map, the observer does not need to get up and walk around the world clock to find that same portion of the world which might now have rotated to the opposite side from his vantage point. Without moving from his present location, he can always tell at a glance the current local time in that area of the world.

To increase the accuracy of interpolation of the areas falling between the hour lines 51, I provide a spherical sector 70 which is held in the hands. In the space between two hour lines and extending from the pole to the equator are a series of lines 71 subdividing the space into groups of minutes. By holding this sector in position as illustrated in FIG. 1, one can interpolate with much greater accuracy the time of a location on the globe 13 which falls between the hour lines. The use of the additional lines 71 on the sector rather than on the sphere 15 has the important advantage that the sphere is not cluttered up with an excessive number of lines which would impair the ability to observe the overall globe 13 therebelow.

I claim:

1. A world clock, comprising: a supporting base; an elongate shaft fixably connected to said supporting base and extending upwardly therefrom; a spherically shaped world globe fixably mounted to said shaft, said globe including oppositely spaced portions representing the North and South Poles of the earth through which said shaft impales said globe; a pair of hemispherically shaped and transparent hollow shells of substantially identical shape and having mating edges to permit their assembly into a sphere having an inside diameter slightly larger than the outside diameter of said globe, said assembled sphere having a pair of holes on diametrically opposed sides thereof for mounting said sphere on said shaft, said sphere carrying a plurality of twenty-four equally spaced lines on its inner surface, said lines being placed along great circles intersecting said diametrically opposed holes to divide said sphere into twenty-four segments representing 15 degrees each, a plurality of time designating numerals attached to said sphere and accompanying said lines, said sphere being rotatably mounted on said shaft around and concentrically with said globe; means carried by said shaft for spacing said globe and sphere concentrically with one another; an electric clock motor mounted in said base, said clock motor having an output shaft which makes two revolutions per day; and a two to one reducing gear drive connecting said motor output shaft and said transparent sphere for driving said sphere rotatably at the rate of one revolution per day causing said lines and time designating numerals to rotate from East to West about said globe and indicate the proper time at all locations in the world.

2. The world clock as described in claim 1, wherein said sphere has a driven gear afiixed thereto at its lower end, and said sphere is mounted on said shaft -to also permit translation thereof along said shaft to effectuate disengagement of said driven gear and said gear drive, thereby allowing said world clock to be set to the proper current time by lifting and rota-ting the sphere to proper alignment relative to the globe.

3. A world clock, comprising: a lower hollow supporting base; an elongate shaft fixably secured to the upper portions of said supporting base and extending upwardly therefrom; a spherically shaped world globe having a world map thereon fixably mounted to said shaft, said map having upper and lower diametrically opposite portions representing the North and South Poles of the earth respectively, said shaft impaling said globe through its North and South Pole portions; a pair of hemispherically shaped and transparent hollow shells of substantially identical shape and having mating edges to permit their assembly into a sphere having an inside diameter slightly larger than the outside diameter of said globe, each of said shells having a similarly placed hole therein on its axis of symmetry to permit its being rotatably and vertically translatably mounted on said shaft, said sphere having a plurality of twenty-four equally spaced lines on its inner surface and placed along great circles intersecting its mounting holes to divide said sphere into twenty-four segments representing the diiferent time zones of the earth, time designating numerals on said sphere and differentiating said lines, and gear means attached to the lower shell of said sphere and encircling the hole in said shell for permitting said sphere to be rotated on said shaft; means engaging said sphere for spacing said sphere concentrically with said globe; an electric motor mounted in said base and having an output shaft extending outwardly therefrom in opposite directions; gear means connecting said motor output shaft and the gear means of said lower shell for driving the sphere rotatably around the upright shaft from East to West at the rate of one revolution per twenty-four hours; and means permitting inversion of said electric motor within said base to thereby permit opposite rotation of said outer sphere which in conjunction with a manual inversion of the inner globe facilitates inspection of the Southern hemisphere.

References Cited by the Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS 1,333,928 6/1963 France.

RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner. GERALD F, BAKER, Examiner, 

1. A WORD CLOCK, COMPRISING: A SUPPORTING BASE; AN ELONGATE SHAFT FIXABLY CONNECTED TO SAID SUPPORTING BASE AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY THEREFROM; A SPHERICALLY SHAPED WORLD GLOBE FIXABLY MOUNTED TO SAID SHAFT, SAID GLOBE INCLUDING OPPOSITELY SPACED PORTIONS REPRESENTING THE NORTH AND SOUTH POLES OF THE EARTH THROUGH WHICH SAID SHAFT IMPALES SAID GLOBE; A PAIR OF HEMISPHERICALLY SHAPED AND TRANSPARENT HOLLOW SHELLS OF SUBSTANTIALLY IDENTICAL SHAPE AND HAVING MATING EDGES TO PERMIT THEIR ASSEMBLY INTO A SPHERE HAVING AN INSIDE DIAMETER SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN THE OUTSIDE DIAMETER OF SAID GLOBE, SAID ASSEMBLED SPHERE HAVING A PAIR OF HOLES ON DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED SIDES THEREOF FOR MOUNTING SAID SPHERE ON SAID SHAFT, SAID SPHERE CARRYING A PLURALITY OF TWENTY-FOUR EQUALLY SPACED LINES ON ITS INNER SURFACE, SAID LINES BEING PLACED ALONG GREAT CIRCLES INTERSECTING SAID DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED HOLES TO DIVIDE SAID SPHERE INTO TWENTY-FOUR SEGMENTS REPRESENTING 15 DEGREES 